The Solheim Cup features a women's golf showdown in Iowa in August. Teams from the U.S. and Europe will meet at the Des Moines Golf & Country Club on Aug. 14-20.
John Naughton / The Register

The six captains' selections for the Solheim Cup are (seated in far background, from left to right) Angel Yin and Austin Ernst of the United States; and Europeans Anna Nordqvist, Caroline Masson, Emily Pedersen and Madelene Sagstrom.(Photo: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

Now, the hardest part of being the United States Solheim Cup captain begins.

The leader of the 12-woman team headed to central Iowa later this month for the biennial women’s golf matches finalized her squad Sunday, using her two captains’ picks on a pair of first-timers that round out a roster otherwise filled with match-play veterans or recent major winners.

Korda announced on Monday that she would be withdrawing from the team with a forearm strain. Inkster has until 5 p.m. Aug. 17 to name a replacement.

European captain Annika Sorenstam completed her side with four selections, tapping a pair of Swedes in Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom to join Emily Pedersen of Denmark and Caroline Masson of Germany.

Among the most notable names missing the cut for the U.S. were Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer, each 20-something major champions and two players who possessed a combined 11 Solheim appearances between them.

U.S. Solheim Cup captain Juli Inkster, left, and European counterpart Annika Sorenstam revealed their final Solheim Cup rosters on Sunday in Scotland. The Solheim Cup will be contested Aug. 18-20 at Des Moines Golf and Country Club.(Photo: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

“It is tough. It’s the hardest day,” Inkster said at a news conference Sunday at St. Andrews, Scotland, the site of the Women’s British Open, where the two-year qualification period concluded. “A lot of ups and downs, a lot of should-I, shouldn’t-I. We went with our gut.”

And that gut said to go with results on the course instead of experience alone.

“(Pressel and Creamer) were the hardest people to tell (no),” Inkster said. “I know they bleed red, white and blue, but I had to go with people I thought deserved to be there. Everybody had the same opportunity to make this team. When it comes down to it, I didn’t see a lot of form.”

Ernst was one of the contenders for a captain’s pick two years ago in Germany, but didn’t get the nod.

“I really wanted to be on the last team and just missed out. Now to make this one, I’m excited to pair up with (the rest of her teammates) and get out there and play,” Ernst said Sunday.

Juli Inkster, the Captain of the United States team (l) and Annika Sorenstam, the captain of the European team pose for a photograph with the Solheim Cup trophy during the official Captain's Announcement of the teams for the 2017 Solheim Cup Matches to be held at the Des Moines Country Club August 18-20 at Kingsbarns Golf Links on August 6, 2017 in Kingsbarns, Scotland. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)(Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images)

Ernst is ranked 57th in the world and is in the top 35 on this year’s LPGA money list. She cracks the top 20 in greens in regulation and birdies — two statistics Inkster said are key when the matches reach the Des Moines Golf and Country Club from Aug. 18-20.

Inkster, also the captain in 2015, simply couldn’t snub Ernst twice.

“I just feel like she deserves a chance to be on this team and to represent the USA,” Inkster said. “And my players also thought that.”

The rest of the team has also been wowed by Yin, 18, who ranks seventh on the Tour in driving distance and fifth in eagles. She’s a top-20 putter and has seven top-20 finishes on the season, including an eighth-place finish in Ohio two weeks ago and a tie for 11th at the British Open.

Yin was so overwhelmed by the choice that she had trouble putting the selection into words Sunday. But she was able to vigorously pump her fists when Inkster lauded her Sunday.

“I just liked her demeanor, and again, my team just loves her,” said Inkster. “I thought it was a win-win. I’m bringing two rookies, but you know what? They’ve got to play sometime, and I have a lot of confidence in them.”

Sorenstam split the difference with her four choices, bestowing berths on two veterans (Nordqvist, four appearances, and Masson, two) and two rookies in Pedersen and Sagstrom. The desire to achieve is there across the board, however, with Sagstrom saying the Solheim Cup background had been on her phone for “a lot of years.”

Sorenstam, a World Golf Hall of Famer and eight-time Solheim Cup team member herself, only had the past 18 months to get to know much of her group. She said she’s delighted for the opportunity, both for her as captain and for her team members.

“I’m very, very proud of what they have achieved,” she said. “It’s been great to follow them for a while and get to know them. We’re all just gearing up for the event and the challenge ahead.”

That task is to score the matches’ third consecutive road win. The European side was the last home victor, in 2011 at Kileen Castle in Ireland. The United States used a massive Sunday comeback in 2015 to steal the Cup away in Germany.

Inkster knows her task, too — to create a raucous environment in West Des Moines. She’s asking fans to color-coordinate with red (Friday), white (Saturday) and blue (Sunday) gear as a start of unified support.

The rest is up to those between the ropes.

“Annika’s team’s job is to make it quiet, and our job is to make it loud,” Inkster said. “They’re going to be great matches. I can’t believe that in a week it’s going to be here. But I think we’re all ready to go.”

CLOSE

Mike Whan wants a (respectfully) rowdy environment when the U.S. and Europe battle in a women's team golf event in Des Moines this August.
Danny Lawhon/The Register

15th SOLHEIM CUP MATCHES

WHERE: Des Moines Golf and Country Club, West Des Moines, Iowa

WHEN: Aug. 18-20

COMPETITORS: 12 women on teams representing the United States and Europe

CAPTAINS: U.S., Juli Inkster; Europe, Annika Sorenstam

ALL-TIME RESULTS: U.S. leads 9-5

RECENT MATCHES: The U.S. erased a 4-point deficit to win 14.5-13.5 in Germany in 2015. The last time the matches were contested on American soil, Europe defeated the U.S. 18-10 at Colorado Golf Club in 2013 for the most lopsided result in the history of the event.

How the matches work

The Solheim Cup is a match play event contested over three days. There will be two sessions of team matches on both Friday and Saturday, while Sunday is composed entirely of singles matches.

In match play, the number of individual holes won calculates how a match is scored. (In other words, whether a team wins a hole by one stroke or several strokes is immaterial.) A team/individual is victorious when it is ahead by more holes than there are holes remaining in the match.

If a team wins an 18-hole match, it gains a point. A match that ends in a tie results in half a point for both teams. The first team to reach 14.5 points wins the Solheim Cup. In the event of a 14-all tie, the team that most recently won the Cup retains possession. In this case, that would be the U.S.

FRIDAY

Four four-ball matches: Teams of two square off, each playing their own ball on every hole. The better of the two scores is taken.

Four foursome matches: Teams of two square off, but each team plays just one ball. Teammates alternate shots until completing the hole. One team member hits the tee shot on odd-numbered holes, the other on even-numbered holes.

Available points: Eight

SATURDAY

Four four-ball matches; four foursome matches

Available points: eight; total points: 16

SUNDAY

12 singles matches: Unlike the first two days of competition, every team member is required to participate. Individuals play their own ball against a member of the opposing team.